Tiaan here, a Challenger player in every set that has been writing guides since Set 1. I would consider Chrono Kayle to be my “main” comp and I’ve easily played a hundred games of this composition over the past two months.
Chrono Kayle is an incredibly potent comp in the current meta, due to its flexibility, general strength and lack of reliance on 3* units. It can also support multiple players in the same lobby, mostly due to the fact that you don’t need any 3* units to win the game.
Despite all these positives, it is not the easiest comp for unfamiliar players to play due to its massive mix of synergies that can be very confusing to manage in the mid-game but I hope after reading this guide that you can understand it a bit better.
Table Of Contents
Strengths
Easy transition from various strong early game comps
Flexible composition – there’s not a single unit that you can’t play the comp without except Kayle
Incredible AoE damage potential – Kayle and Miss Fortune both offer incredible AoE damage
Significant mid-game power spikes – rolling a Kayle early can give you a free win-streak with no investment
Item flexible – Kayle can hold a massive variety of items with great effectiveness
Weaknesses
Vulnerable backline carries – comps with strong backline access can destroy both carries of the composition
Mediocre frontline – the synergies used in this comp are mostly focused on offense leaving the frontline to be a bit squishy
Inconsistent late-game – the late-game of the composition can be lackluster if you don’t have good Miss Fortune items on a 2*
Items
Carousel Priority
First Carousel
Bow
Glove
Rod
Tear
Sword, Vest, Cloak, Belt
For future carousels, focus on Kayle items until she has three good items, then look to itemise your other carries or pick up good all-around items like Zephyr.
There are typically two routes that you can take early-game in a Kayle carry comp.
1. Single Carry
Xayah is no longer the perfect Kayle replacement like she used to be. The main reason being the popularity of 2 Vanguard meaning that she barely does any damage without Last Whisper, which is a terrible Kayle item. That being said, she’s not terrible if you can get her 2*’d with a decent item or two.
Running magic damage carries is much better in the current meta. The two best champions to use as a Kayle placeholder are Ziggs, Twisted Fate, and Ahri. Generally, you can just run whichever one you can get two-starred first. Along with your main carry, you want a strong frontline for which there are two main options – 2 Vanguard or 2 Brawler. There are some little things to think about, like how Brawlers are better if you’re running Twisted Fate as a carry since you get 2 Chrono for free. Vanguard is generally better, however, but you should run whatever you can get two-starred first.
To sum everything up, you want one main carry to stack all of your items on, then a two-unit core frontline, either Vanguard or Brawlers, and then you top it off with some supporting synergies, such as Chrono, Blademaster, Sorcerer or even Celestial.
2. Cybernetics
This variant is less popular now but it can still be effective if you get the units you need for it. If you can get 3 Cybernetic units, then you can spread all your components across them with Lucian being the item holder for Kayle. After your three Cybernetic units, you can keep adding relevant synergies as you level (Chrono, Blademaster, Brawler, Celestial) and hold some important units that you need to transition (Xayah, Ezreal, etc.).
Just because there are two routes that are typically the best, it doesn’t mean that they are the only way to play the early game. Just try to slam your items on a ranged carry early and pick up some decent front line with some relevant synergies (Chrono, Blademaster, Blaster, Brawler, etc.) to support it and you should do okay.
It’s quite important to level aggressively with this comp as you need a lot of higher tier units. If you have an upgrade on your bench and it won’t cost you too much gold to level and put it in, don’t hesitate to do so.
Mid Game (Stage 3 & 4)
If you’re on a win streak, consider leveling at 3-1 instead of 3-2 to keep it, otherwise, you should level to 6 at 3-2 and continue playing your strongest boards. You shouldn’t be rolling at this stage as your rolls at Level 7 and 8 are going to be much more valuable.
Mid-game is the most difficult part of this comp, and it takes a lot of experience to realize what the best play you can make is. If you naturally roll a Kayle during Stage 3 then you’re probably on track to quickly rush Level 8 before you roll if your economy is decent, otherwise, it’s probably necessary to roll at Level 7 instead.
Try to play your most efficient and strongest boards, take a good look at your shop and bench every round, and ask yourself whether you can play anything stronger, even if just for a single turn. It might be hard to see what your strongest board is because unlike most comps you’re not aiming to fill out any big synergies. The pictures above show some comps I’ll play during the mid game, so that should give you an idea of what it should look like.
1. Rolling down at 4-1 (Level 7)
If you haven’t hit Kayle, then you’re gonna be rolling down at 7, and when this happens it’s very important to not roll to 0. You need to keep some economy because Level 8 is extremely important for this composition. Roll until you hit Kayle and some other good units that you can play to save HP, then save up money to roll again at Level 8 on 5-1.
2. Rolling down at 4-3 (Level 8)
If you’re high on HP and you can afford to get all the way to 4-3, level to 8, and still have above 40 gold to roll, then that is usually the way to go. Since you hit Level 8 you can afford to dig much deeper into your interest when you roll down here, but it’s a good idea to try to keep at least 10-20g at the end of your roll down.
Late Game (Stage 5+)
Your final roll down is probably going to be at 5-1, after that point you really want to have your whole comp together. Sometimes I’m lacking Miss Fortune by this point which is definitely not ideal but I think the best MF placeholder is probably Jayce. Valkyrie doesn’t feel that important when you have to use a near useless unit to get it (Kaisa).
As stated earlier, MF 2* is important for your late game as a lone Kayle usually doesn’t have enough damage output to kill everything on the board. Having two carries instead of one also gives you a much better chance versus Infiltrators. If you’re very low on HP, you should probably be donkey rolling every turn to try to get as strong as possible. If you still have some HP to work with you should save up money until you start losing then roll it all down.
Level 9 is fairly rare for this composition but if you do get there, just add 2 Vanguard (Jayce is the best unit) for more frontline.
4 Chrono
The last thing you need to keep in mind for your late game is Thresh and keeping a good bench built up for him. With the Chrono buff, he can usually pull in 2-3 units a fight which gives you a large number advantage over your opponent. If you’re sitting on a Xayah pair late game it’s probably worth selling the copy on your bench to give Thresh a better chance to pull in a good unit.
Here are some of the best units Thresh can pull in:
Blitzcrank, Shen, Lulu, Lux
Wukong, Soraka
Fizz, Neeko, Cho’Gath
Variants and Positioning
Standard (Level 8)
4 Chrono (Level 8)
Vs. Mech Infiltrators
This might look very strange, but keeping your carries on the front row is actually the safest place for them when you play vs Mech Infiltrators. You also need to put some bait units in the backline for their infiltrators to target. Keep in mind that this positioning is incredibly bad against most other comps.
No RFC
Positioning Kayle without a RFC is a bit trickier and here is another way to do it if you feel like your Kayle isn’t safe enough with the standard positioning.
Tiaan has been playing TFT since its inception. He finished Challenger in S1, got Challenger in S2 (then decayed after), and has even achieved Rank 1 in Set 3. He enjoys sharing his passion for the game with our readers and helping them climb!
This guide is great and in-depth, i have really been missing a true comp database for TFT which shows more than just one version and a silly name. This site looks and feels great and im really hoping it keeps going cause the content so far is very informative and enjoyable to read. =)
Hope to see more like this, maybe tackle Jhin variations next?
what happens if you don’t hit MF? i tried forcing this comp 5 straight times and got 0 MFs (my last game i rolled 46 gold at level 8 and nothing)! i’m pretty sure no one is as unlucky as i am. do i pivot to another comp (i tried 6 BMs and it sucked late game)?
I find that with shredders and other players utilizing wukong it’s hard to hit the frontline and get them 2*. What’s an alternative frontline that would be good with kayle carry? Also lulu and mf are hard to hit which makes up for half of your late game squad.
Before you hit Lulu and MF you should usually run 2 Vanguard for more frontline. A lot of the time you’ll have a 2* Poppy or other vanguards that you picked up early game to run for frontline. If you’re having problems with weak frontline it might be that you’re full transitioning too early and selling off the 2*s you got early game before you need to.
Spatula isn’t that good in this comp and the only way we can really see a use for it is going 4 Celestial at Level 9 or Demo MF + Gangplank at Level 9.
U mentioned to roll at lvl 7 to find Kayle, I rolled there until 10 gold remained and all I found was tier 4 Jinx, Cho, Vel, Jhin, Wu EXCEPT Kayle… bad luck… what should I do in this situation? Econ back to 50?
Yes, basically you need to play the strongest board you have at that moment (including the units you got on the roll down) and stall until Level 8 at 5-1 when you roll down. The point is playing the strongest board during the mid game, so you can afford to stall and don’t just die until 5-1. Mid game is definitely the trickiest part, as it involves a lot of decisions you need to make on your own, depending on what the shop gives you.
I think I found my weakness, once I hit lvl 8 I rolled all the way down to find ONLY the SAME build as shown on guides and skipped other champions… am I right?
Yes, you should pick up all the good units + pick up units of the same cost as the units you’re looking for, so you reduce the pool, thus increasing your odds. For example, you’re searching for Kayle, you can pick up all the 4 costs to increase your chance of finding her. At the same time, there’s a bunch of good 4 costs, so you can use some of them until you find something better.
Just be sure to sell units you don’t need to make econ.
Great guide! This comp has been reliable for top 4 and very easy to force.
Thank you for the kind words!
This guide is great and in-depth, i have really been missing a true comp database for TFT which shows more than just one version and a silly name. This site looks and feels great and im really hoping it keeps going cause the content so far is very informative and enjoyable to read. =)
Hope to see more like this, maybe tackle Jhin variations next?
Thank you so much for the kind words! We’re not planning on going anywhere and we’re going to do all the comps, so stay tuned!
Thank you so much for this guide! I reached Diamond with it 😀
We’re very happy to hear that, gj!
what happens if you don’t hit MF? i tried forcing this comp 5 straight times and got 0 MFs (my last game i rolled 46 gold at level 8 and nothing)! i’m pretty sure no one is as unlucky as i am. do i pivot to another comp (i tried 6 BMs and it sucked late game)?
We’ve answered this in the updated version of the guide. We hope you like it!
I find that with shredders and other players utilizing wukong it’s hard to hit the frontline and get them 2*. What’s an alternative frontline that would be good with kayle carry? Also lulu and mf are hard to hit which makes up for half of your late game squad.
Before you hit Lulu and MF you should usually run 2 Vanguard for more frontline. A lot of the time you’ll have a 2* Poppy or other vanguards that you picked up early game to run for frontline. If you’re having problems with weak frontline it might be that you’re full transitioning too early and selling off the 2*s you got early game before you need to.
Can you comment on some creative uses of spat in this comp?
Spatula isn’t that good in this comp and the only way we can really see a use for it is going 4 Celestial at Level 9 or Demo MF + Gangplank at Level 9.
U mentioned to roll at lvl 7 to find Kayle, I rolled there until 10 gold remained and all I found was tier 4 Jinx, Cho, Vel, Jhin, Wu EXCEPT Kayle… bad luck… what should I do in this situation? Econ back to 50?
Yes, basically you need to play the strongest board you have at that moment (including the units you got on the roll down) and stall until Level 8 at 5-1 when you roll down. The point is playing the strongest board during the mid game, so you can afford to stall and don’t just die until 5-1. Mid game is definitely the trickiest part, as it involves a lot of decisions you need to make on your own, depending on what the shop gives you.
I think I found my weakness, once I hit lvl 8 I rolled all the way down to find ONLY the SAME build as shown on guides and skipped other champions… am I right?
I mean correct me if I’m wrong, sry
Yes, you should pick up all the good units + pick up units of the same cost as the units you’re looking for, so you reduce the pool, thus increasing your odds. For example, you’re searching for Kayle, you can pick up all the 4 costs to increase your chance of finding her. At the same time, there’s a bunch of good 4 costs, so you can use some of them until you find something better.
Just be sure to sell units you don’t need to make econ.